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Overview

The Fund Pension Policies screen allows you to request an Actuarial Certificate directly from Accurium and enter the non-deductible expense proportions for a fund.

Does an SMSF require an Actuarial Certificate?

The superannuation legislation reform and related updated guidance from the ATO has increased the complexity of SMSF administration. These changes which apply from the 2017-18 financial year have also made the question of whether an actuarial certificate is required to claim exempt current pension income (ECPI) for a financial year more difficult to answer.

Accurium has developed a flow chart to help you identify whether an actuarial certificate is required by the fund in order to claim EPCI in the annual return.

Pre-requisites

Important Prerequisites to use the Actuarial Wizard

Enter all transactions for the financial year.

Member(s) have been converted to pension mode.

Fund relationships for the Trustee

Fund Details have been entered (ABN,TFN etc).

Create entries is not required to be processed to the end of the year.

Navigation

From the Main Toolbar, go to Member.

Select Fund pension policies from the list.

Requesting an Actuarial Certificate from Accurium

BGL is currently engaging with Accurium to update this process for 2018. We are planning to release the Actuary Certificate and Create Entries changes for the 2018 Financial Year on the 18th July 2018

Select + New Actuarial Certificate.

The fund's current financial year will pre-fill. Select Request Actuarial Certificate to open the Actuary Wizard.

Select Accurium as the provider and click Next.

Complete and Review your contact details. This section will pre-fill based on your current SF360 license details. However, they are editable if required. Also input any additional comments on your application, including any sections of the information that you may be uncertain of. This information will be transmitted to Accurium along with the application. Click Next to proceed.

Confirm Segregation Eligibility (This will only display for 2018 and later Financial years.

From 01 July 2017, the ATO has determined that for any portion of an income year where an SMSF's assets are held solely to meet super income stream liability benefits (i.e. any period that the SMSF is in 100% pension phase) the SMSF trustee is required to calculate its ECPI for that portion of the income year using the segregated method. This applies for even part of an income year, which will result in the year being part segregated and part unsegregated.

Furthermore, from 1 July 2017, a fund cannot have any assets classified as segregated at any time during a particular financial year if at the previous 30 June:

any member had a total superannuation balance of more than $1.6 million (and remember, total superannuation balance includes not just the balance in the SMSF but all superannuation in every fund to which the member belongs), and

any of those members with more than $1.6 million also had a retirement-phase pension from any fund (not necessarily this SMSF).

If a fund cannot be classified as segregated, it simply means it cannot claim its tax exemption on a segregated basis. The fund is still eligible for an exemption, but under the Unsegregated method.

The member's TSB as at 30 June of the previous Financial Year will display. You will need to confirm to Accurium whether or not the fund is eligible to use the segregated method or not. If no is selected the fund will automatically use the Unsegregated method for the entire Financial Year.

Click Submit to Actuary.

This will send the required data from BGL to the Acccurium automatically

Select Click here to complete your applicationand Accurium’s website will open in a new tab for you to complete your application.

Accurium will not review any of the information sent until you confirm the application on their website. Accurium also does not provide an estimated percentage until you have completed your application on their website.

Accurium Website

Logging in or Registering

If this is your first time accessing the Accurium membership portal, you will need to register your username and password. Select Join Now.

If you are a returning Accurium membership user, simply log in.

You will be directed to the application screen.

2. Order Workflow

The Accurium Website has the following workflow

3. Input Page

All the relevant fund details will pre-fill into Accurium’s online application form. If there are any issues with the application, error messages will appear.

Carefully review the data and then select Next to proceed to the Summary Screen.

4. Segregation Page

The chart displayed will illustrate the periods of the year the Fund had segregated pension assets, and the periods of the year where the Fund also had a non-retirement phase account and so was not segregated. This chart is based on the information provided on the Input page. Click Next to proceed.

5. Review Page

Please review your draft exempt income proportion on this screen and select continue to finalise and order your actuarial certificate.

Once you have ordered the certificate, the Accurium team will review the data and either produce the report or contact you for further information.

6. Payment Screen

Select your payment method and order.

8. Completion Screen

Once you have successfully completed your actuarial certificate request, the following confirmation will display.

9.Additional Help with Accurium

hovering over an information bubble will show you a short tooltip explaining what the required input means and how to complete that item on the form

? clicking the question mark against each section heading will open a pop-up window with detailed information and examples of how to complete the form for inputs required in that section

clicking on a blue link will open up a pop-up window explaining the linked term and what it means for completing the form

If you have questions regarding the changes please call us on 1800 203 123 or email act@accurium.com.au. Accurium also have a decision chart available to assist you in determining if a fund requires an actuarial certificate to claim ECPI.

Receiving the Actuarial Certificate

After processing your payment, you will receive the actuarial certificate via email (sent to the nominated email address).

You will need to ensure that the Pension Policy in SF360 reflects the official tax exempt percentage issued by Accurium.

The Tax Exempt Percentage, Segregated and Unsegregated periods and the Certificate Status will all automatically be updated by Accurium.